


Strays

by Ailendolin



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Humor, Pre-Canon, Starfleet Academy, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 01:24:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15401886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailendolin/pseuds/Ailendolin
Summary: Gabriel has a tendency to take in strays. Katrina is not amused.orFive times Gabriel Lorca brings home an animal in need, and one time Katrina does.





	Strays

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> Since it's my birthday and I'm turning thirty today (woohoo!) I thought I'd give something back in true hobbit-fashion. This is the result. I started writing it two days ago and didn't have a lot of time to edit it but since it's just supposed to be a short, sweet little story I figured that's alright. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned here and make no profit with this work. The characters and settings are property of CBS.

**Strays**

**1\. Mouse**

The first time Katrina Cornwell meets Gabriel Lorca he quite literally bumps into her in a hallway a week after she moved to San Francisco for her first year at Starfleet Academy. Their rooms are on the same floor and she’s seen him around a few times but they haven’t really talked to each other until he almost runs her over. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you alright?”

Katrina straightens out her uniform. “I’m fine but maybe you should be a little bit more careful when you’re rounding corners,” she suggests before she takes a good look at him. “And put on some clothes,” she adds.  

He has the audacity to grin at her. “I was in a hurry,” he says and nods at the box in his hand as if that explains it all.

Katrina knows she shouldn’t ask, knows she should just let him be on his way and turn around and never look back because those blue eyes glittering with mirth and mischief can only spell trouble. Not to mention those abs. She sighs. Damn her curiosity and weakness for good-looking guys. “What’s in the box?”

Gabriel’s grin widens. “So, I was down in the basement, just looking around, you know?”

“Uh huh,” Katrina says with a raised and very much unimpressed eyebrow that would put even a Vulcan to shame. Of course he’s been in the basement. Where else would first-year Starfleet cadets go this early on a Saturday morning? She really should walk away from this human disaster.

“And well,” Gabriel continues, completely unfazed by her lack of enthusiasm, “there was this mouse trap and this little guy – or girl, I’m not sure yet – was trapped inside it.”

Katrina’s eyes fall to the box. “So you freed the mouse,” she concludes.

“So I freed the mouse,” Gabriel confirms with a proud smile that does things to Katrina she would deny when asked. “I think its paw is broken and it’s dehydrated but that’s nothing we can’t fix.”

Alarm bells go off in Katrina’s head. “We?”

Gabriel blinks at her. “We as in Mouse and I,” he says slowly. Katrina sees the moment an idea forms in his head and realizes her mistake. “You could help, of course! You live on this floor, don’t you? I’ve seen you around! My name’s Gabriel Lorca, by the way. Room 4.09, xenobiologist in spe.”

Katrina stares at him, then at the box with the mouse (which, apparently, he called Mouse in the most uncreative way imaginable and that alone should make her run as far away as she can), then back at him. “Katrina Cornwell,” she finally says against her better judgment just to be polite. “Room 4.04. Psychology.”

“Oh!” Gabriel says with a smirk. “You’re one of those.”

Katrina narrows her eyes. “One of what?”

“One of those people who like to get into other people’s heads,” Gabriel says. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc? Am I ready for the loony bin?”

Katrina refrains from pointing out that she doesn’t have a degree yet. Instead she takes a step back and slowly, deliberately, looks him up and down to try to make him as uncomfortable as possible before crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s seven a.m., you’re standing in the hallway in nothing but your underwear with a half-dead mouse in your arms. What do you think, Gabriel?”

Gabriel grins. “I think I’m just the right amount of crazy for you.” Katrina groans, causing Gabriel to laugh. “Sorry, that was awful.” He pauses and his smile turns sweet and hopeful. “So, want to help me save Mouse?”

Katrina considers her options: she could spend her Saturday morning like she planned, with a quick breakfast at the bakery around the corner followed by a trip to the library to get a head start on her first lectures. Or she could follow this crazy but dashingly handsome man with a heart of gold and eyes as blue as the sky and save the life of a mouse.

She’d always had a soft spot for rodents. “Lead the way,” she says. “And you better buy me breakfast.”

“Breakfast and whatever else you will,” Gabriel agrees happily.

Katrina has a feeling she’s not going to regret this as much as she thinks she will.

* * *

**2\. Cassiopeia**

After the mouse, there is a cat.

It’s a year later, another Saturday morning and Katrina’s well-deserved rest after a week of finals is rudely interrupted by loud knocking. “Kat!” she hears Gabriel’s voice, slightly muffled, through the door. “Kat, are you awake? Come on, I need your help.”

“If that boyfriend of yours doesn’t shut up in 0.3 seconds, I’m going to kill him,” Pippa mutters darkly before burying deeper under her covers. “Very slowly and painfully.”

Katrina sighs and resigns herself to the fact that going back to sleep is no longer an option if she wants to keep Gabriel alive. She pushes back the covers and gets out of bed. Not caring about her bed hair or the fact that she’s only in her sleep wear she opens the door.

“Kat!” Gabriel greets her with a happy smile. “Finally, I – whoa, you’re not dressed yet.”

Blushing slightly, he looks away and Katrina rolls her eyes in amusement. She wouldn’t call wearing a tank top and panties ‘not dressed’. She isn’t naked, after all. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, Gabriel,” she says.

“It’s different when it’s a bikini,” he protests weakly.

Katrina snorts, wraps a hand around his head and pulls him down for a good morning kiss. “It’s really not,” she tells him.

They’ve only been together for a few weeks and thanks to Starfleet Academy’s room-sharing policy opportunities to spend time with each other alone and undisturbed have been rather limited – which is why Gabriel has never seen her like this before. Katrina, quite frankly, thinks it’s adorable that the guy who flirted shamelessly with her when they first met can be so easily flustered by her lack of clothing. She can’t help but wonder how he’ll be with her when they finally get a room to themselves for a whole night – shy and reverent or passionate and worshipping? She can’t wait to find out.

“Now,” Katrina says, locking those thoughts firmly away, “what did you need my help for at this ungodly hour?”

Gabriel’s blue eyes never stray from her face. “Remember that cat I’ve told you about?”

Katrina has an idea of where he is going with this and inwardly groans. So much for her peaceful Saturday. “The three-legged tabby that looks like death warmed over?”

“Yes!” Gabriel nods enthusiastically. “I’ve managed to lock her in the basement but I can’t catch her on my own.”

The basement. Why does it always have to be the basement with him, Katrina wonders. She has absolutely no interest in spending her morning hunting a scared and half-dead deranged cat in their dorm’s damp basement but Gabriel is looking at her with such a hopeful expression in his brilliant blue eyes that she knows she won’t say no. She hasn’t been able to walk away from him a year ago and she won’t be now. She begins to realize she probably never will.

“Let me get dressed.”

Ten minutes and a quick trip to the bathroom later Katrina’s ready to go. She’s chosen the ugliest clothes she could find – a pair of trousers that barely reach her ankles because the washing machine shrunk them and one of her uniform tank tops that was deemed a lost cause after her latest outdoor survival training course. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing those things but it’s a Saturday morning and no one’s around to see her and she has a feeling Gabriel’s cat will make good use of her claws. The last thing she wants is one of her favorite shirts getting torn to shreds or stained with blood.

Gabriel glances at her as they walk towards the stairs. “You look good.”

Katrina laughs. “There’s no need to lie. I’m already here, aren’t I?”

“It’s not a lie,” Gabriel protests. He actually looks a little hurt which makes Katrina pause. “You do look good like this though I have no idea how you manage to pull it off with that top. What did you do with it? Give it a mud bath?”

“Something like that, yeah,” Katrina chuckles. “Now, how do you plan to catch that cat of yours?”

Turns out, Gabriel actually has a plan and it’s a good one. Corner the cat, grab her in a blanket and put her in a crate. Too bad the cat doesn’t agree. They end up spending the whole morning running around the basement, chasing a cat that by all means shouldn’t be able to run that fast on just three legs.

“That thing is a demon cat,” Katrina grumbles, picking herself up off the floor after her last failed attempt to throw herself and the blanket over the cat. “Look at us: two promising Starfleet cadets in the prime of their health, getting their asses kicked by a cat with three legs who’s running on no body fat and pure determination. I think that thing’s playing with us, Gabriel.”

Gabriel’s lips quirk up in a grin. “Kind of reminds me of you.”

Katrina gives him a look. “What, you think I’m mangy and malnourished?”

“No,” Gabriel laughs, “I think you’re fierce and strong-minded – just like her. I love that about you.” He presses a quick kiss to her lips. “Now, let’s get my other cat.”

Katrina groans and swats his arm lightly. “I was wondering when you’d use that pun. You’re so predictable, Gabriel.”

“But you love me anyway,” he grins.

“God knows why,” Katrina mutters. She throws the blanket at him. “Your turn getting mauled.”

She picks up the crate and they continue chasing the cat. Another hour and several failed attempts and battle wounds later they finally have her cornered. “This is it, Kat,” Gabriel whispers before he lounges. This time, the cat doesn’t manage to extricate herself from the blanket. Gabriel wraps her up tightly and holds her close to his chest before he looks at Katrina in triumph. “I’ve got her!”

“Well done,” Katrina laughs, feeling almost giddy with relief that this ordeal is finally over.

The cat doesn’t agree. She protests loudly inside the blanket and Katrina can see that Gabriel has trouble keeping a hold on her. Stepping closer with the crate she opens the door. “Get her inside before she tears you to pieces and runs away again. I’m not spending another four hours chasing her.”

Getting her inside the crate is not as easy as it sounds. There’s one heart-stopping moment when the cat almost slips out of Gabriel’s grasp but in the end gravity wins and she slides into the crate. Katrina firmly shuts the door behind her. Both she and Gabriel breathe a sigh of relief.

“We did it,” Gabriel grins happily before scooping Katrina up in his arms and whirling her around. They’re both sweaty and tired and the cat is meowing angrily in the background but the moment couldn’t be more perfect. “Thank you,” Gabriel says before he sets her back down and pulls her in for a slow, languid kiss. “Breakfast?”

Katrina looks at her watch. “More like lunch. Shower and then Alfonso’s?”

“Good idea,” Gabriel agrees. He places the blanket over the crate before picking it up. With his other hand he reaches for Katrina and entwines their fingers.

“What will you do about her?” Katrina asks, nodding towards the hidden cat that’s now hissing at them, muffled by the blanket. “You know you’re not allowed to keep her, right? You’re already breaking the rules by keeping Mouse.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gabriel says. “Which is why I talked to my parents and they’ve agreed to take her in until I’ve found a flat.”

That stops Katrina in her tracks. “You’re looking for a flat?” she asks. “Since when?”

Gabriel shrugs. “A few weeks now. There’s one that looks promising and I get a tour on Friday. It’s close to the Academy, has two rooms, a small garden and most importantly? It’s pet-friendly.” He pauses, giving her a shy smile. “I know it’s too early to ask you to move in with me but would you come with me on Friday? I don’t want to rent a flat you don’t like.”

Katrina feels incredibly touched by his words. They haven’t talked about moving in together and Gabriel’s right, a month is not long enough to seriously consider it but the thing is, Katrina can definitely see herself living with him. Maybe not right now, but in a few months, a year, perhaps – and the thought scares her. She’s never fallen so hard, so fast for someone before. But then again, she’s never met someone like Gabriel before, either – someone who is kind and loving and caring and crazy in all the best ways and has the ability to break her heart.

She smiles at him. “Of course I’ll come with you.”

I’d follow you to the end of the universe if you’d ask me, she thinks. She doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

**3\. Hugo**

“What. Is. That?”

Gabriel looks affronted. The bird does, too. “Not what, who, Kat! His name is Hugo.”

“Hugo,” Katrina says. Two years ago it was a mouse. One year ago it was a cat. Now it’s a parrot. She begins to wonder if that pattern is significant and she can expect Gabriel to bring home some unfortunate animal every year. “Why is … _Hugo_ currently sitting on our living room lamp?”

“Because Chris’s asshole friend didn’t treat him right and wanted to get rid of him.”

Katrina sometimes wonders at the company Gabriel and his former roommate, Christopher Pike, keep. The parrot looks like he’s been through hell. He’s missing most of his feathers and the way his head droops speaks of months, probably years, of neglect. It’s a sad sight and despite being angry at Gabriel for bringing a parrot home without giving her at least some warning she can understand why he did it.

“I hope you gave Chris’s friend a piece of your mind,” she mutters, stepping closer to the parrot.

“You bet I did,” Gabriel says, his voice vibrating with suppressed anger. “Just look at that poor thing.”

The parrot stares at them warily as they come closer. He can’t fly away but he’s moving restlessly along the rim of the lampshade in an effort to put some distance between him and them. Katrina stops, not wanting to agitate him further.

“You do remember we have a cat, don’t you?” she asks Gabriel. “Cats and birds generally don’t mix.”

“Which is why Cassiopeia’s currently locked into our bedroom,” Gabriel tells her.

Katrina raises a skeptical eyebrow. “That’s a rather short-sighted solution, Gabriel.”

He rolls his eyes. “I know that, Kat. Believe it or not, I actually have a plan. Hugo will get an aviary in the garden. Chris and Pippa are coming over in half an hour with the supplies. If all goes well his new home will be ready by dinner time and Cassi can get her realm back.”

“Pippa knew about this before me?” Katrina asks, not sure how she feels about that.

Gabriel takes a step closer and wraps his arm around her. Katrina leans into his warmth with a sigh. “Don’t be upset. Chris and I ran into her on our way here. She offered to go to the hardware store with Chris. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d roped Nikos into helping as well.”

Katrina wouldn’t be, either. Nikos practically worships the ground Pippa walks on and would do anything for her if she just asked. Luckily for him Pippa’s not the kind of woman to take advantage of that.

“So I guess we have a parrot now?” Katrina murmurs.

She feels Gabriel press a gentle kiss into her hair. “I knew you’d understand.”

The parrot – Hugo, Katrina reminds herself – looks at her forlornly and she carefully reaches out a hand to him. To her surprise he allows her to touch him. After a moment he even closes his eyes under her ministrations. Despite his ugliness he’s kind of cute, she has to admit. Though knowing Gabriel, Hugo will flourish under his care just like the cat and the mouse did and look like a proper parrot in no time.

“See?” Gabriel whispers into her ear. “He already likes you.”

“And you’re lucky I love you,” she tells him before turning around to kiss him. “But please ask me the next time you intend to bring home another animal?”

Gabriel’s eyes light up. “Next time?”

Katrina gives him a look. “We both know there’s going to be a next time. Just … don’t bring back anything dangerous?”

“I’ll try not to,” Gabriel agrees with a grin. “You’re the best, Kat.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Katrina warns him jokingly.

* * *

**4\. Maya**

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” is the first thing Gabriel says when the call is established.

He’s on his way back from his first mission as an ensign on the _USS Marsh_ and Katrina can’t wait for him to come home. She’s a bit envious he already gets to go into space while she’s still earthbound until she completes her psychology courses at Starfleet Medical. The last three months without him have been long and lonely, with only Cassie and Hugo for company after Mouse passed away earlier that year. She’s missed Gabriel fiercely, more than she thought she would. Not to have his arms around her at night, his smile the first thing to greet her in the morning or his voice to talk her down when she needs to vent is like missing a limb. She wonders when she went from wanting him in her life to needing him at her side.

But as much as she looks forward to seeing Gabriel tomorrow, to finally be able to touch and kiss him again, his words make her wary. “I know your kind of surprises, Gabriel,” she says. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Gabriel pretends to contemplate that. “What do you think of sehlats?”

For a second Katrina can only stare at him. Surely Gabriel wouldn’t bring a sehlat, a large aggressive Vulcan animal, back to Earth – especially not after she explicitly asked him not to take in anything dangerous. She groans. Who was she kidding, of course he would. “Gabriel, our garden is neither big nor safe enough to keep a sehlat.”

“Yes, but she was all alone, Kat,” Gabriel tries to explain. “I found her in the desert after a storm. She’s blind, probably because of the sand, and she would have died if I hadn’t taken her with me. What was I supposed to do?”

Let nature run its course, Katrina wants to say but she knows Gabriel is not the kind of person to look away when he sees an animal in need and she wouldn’t love him as much as she does if he were. Still, a cat and a parrot are one thing, a sehlat is quite another. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have helped her but you have to realize we can’t keep her. She’s too big, Gabriel.”

“Actually she’s rather small for a sehlat,” Gabriel murmurs.

A part of Katrina dimly realizes that this discussion will go the same way it did with all the other animals. They really need a bigger garden if Gabriel starts bringing back alien life forms now. Mentally, she’s already going though several options that would allow them to keep the sehlat when she realizes what she’s doing. Oh god, she thinks, I’m becoming like him.

“We really need to talk about this habit of yours of bringing home strays, Gabriel,” she mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I mean it. We’re living in a two-room flat and our garden, while lovely, is really too small for a sehlat – and probably anything else you’re going to drag home in the future.”

“We could always get a bigger garden,” Gabriel suggests sheepishly. “And maybe a house?”

A house, while sounding nice, would be way too much space for just the two of them. “We don’t need a house, Gabriel, and we can’t afford one anyway. But,” and here he looks hopefully at her and Katrina feels the remains of her anger melt away completely, “I suppose we could look for a flat with a bigger garden. We’d probably have to move to the suburbs to find the space we need, though.”

“You’d do that for me?” Gabriel asks, his voice hushed, and Katrina realizes that she’s truly managed to surprise him.

“Yeah, I’d do that for you,” she says with a soft smile. “God knows why but I’d do anything to make you happy.”

Gabriel returns her smile. “You know I’d do the same for you, right? I’ll find a place for the sehlat if you really think she’s too dangerous or too big.”

Katrina knows he would, has no doubts about it, and that’s enough. She doesn’t need him to prove it which is why she says, “Well, Vulcan children keep sehlats as pets, right? She can’t be too dangerous, then.”

The smile Gabriel gives her from a million light years away is as blinding as the sun. That, more than anything, makes putting up with his weird habit of taking in strays more than worth it. Katrina doesn’t think she’ll ever get tired of seeing him smile like that for her. “I could kiss you right now,” he sighs wistfully.

Katrina laughs. “Hold that thought for another day.” Next to her, Cassiopeia jumps up onto the desk, demanding attention. A thought strikes Katrina as she scratches the cat’s back. “The sehlat won’t be a danger to Cassie, will she?”

“I don’t think so,” Gabriel says, shaking his head. “Sehlats are more like opportunistic omnivores. They don’t say no to meat when they happen upon a carcass but they mainly feed on berries and roots. And anyway, Maya’s blind. Even on three legs Cassie will be able to outrun her easily should Maya get too curious or too close for comfort.”

Moving her hand to scratch Cassie behind her ears, Katrina says to the cat, “That’s a relief, isn’t it, Cassie?” The cat presses her body down against the desk and begins to purr. They’ve come a long way since the day they caught her. Claw marks are a thing of the past now. “When will you be here tomorrow?”

“Around three p.m. probably,” Gabriel says. “I want to make sure Maya gets to quarantine safely.”

“Of course you do,” Katrina smiles fondly, having expected nothing less. “Just give me a call when you’re here and I’ll come pick you up.”

Gabriel nods. “Will do. See you tomorrow, then.”

“I can’t wait,” Katrina says. “Love you.”

“I love you, too, Kat,” Gabriel says softly. Another smile and he ends the call.

With a sigh Katrina leans back into her chair. Cassie watches her with half-lidded eyes. “Guess I better start looking for a new flat, huh?”

The cat closes her eyes, clearly not interested in moving house. Katrina huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s going to be a pain.”

* * *

**5\. Chomper**

“No, Gabriel. Absolutely not.”

Perhaps for the first time in her life Katrina walks away from him. People are starting to stare at them and she’d rather Gabriel and she discussed this in the privacy of their home then in the middle of Starfleet Medical. Gabriel, however, has other ideas. “Come on, Kat, look at him! He’s cute and well-behaved and he’ll fit right in with the others.”

Katrina whirls around. “He’s a _Velociraptor_ , Gabriel! A freaking dinosaur!”

“Don’t tell me you were one of those kids who hated dinosaurs,” Gabriel says with a frown. “And anyway, he’s not a real dinosaur! Dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago on Earth and he’s not even _from_ Earth.”

Ugh, Katrina really hates it when he talks to her like that. “I know that, Gabriel. But he looks like a dinosaur and right now that’s enough for me to say no. I’ve put up with your animal rescue shenanigans for years now and believe me, more than once people have looked at me funny when I take our pet sehlat for a walk. I’m sorry but I draw the line at raptors.”

“Kat,” Gabriel says and his voice is soft and low, pleading. “Please, just … let me explain?”

Both Gabriel and the raptor in his arms give her such a soulful look that Katrina gives in, once again. She really needs to learn to put her foot down and say no.

They find an empty room and Gabriel barely waits until Katrina has closed the door before he sets the raptor down and begins to explain. “Look, I know you think he’s dangerous but he’s not. I promise you he’s not. He may look like a raptor but he isn’t one. He’s actually a herbivore. Chomper, come here!” Dutifully, the raptor or whatever the hell it is trots back over to Gabriel. Katrina can’t help being a little impressed. If only Maya would listen so well. “Here,” Gabriel continues, pulling the raptor’s lips up to reveal a row of blunt, rounded teeth. “See? He feeds on plants, Kat.”

Katrina knows enough about biology to know that Gabriel is right. That still doesn’t change the fact that he apparently intends to keep the not-dinosaur and hasn’t consulted her first. “How did you come by him anyway?” she asks.

“I found him in a lab,” Gabriel says quietly. He gives her a meaningful look. Katrina’s seen firsthand what those places and the people working there can do to living creatures and suddenly she gets why Gabriel couldn’t help himself. “It was awful and he was in really bad shape,” Gabriel continues, gently scratching the raptor beneath his chin. “He’s been in quarantine for the last few weeks. I would have told you about him sooner, but, well … I kind of feared you’d react like that and I had no idea how I could make you change your mind. I still don’t, to be honest.”

Now Katrina feels guilty. She knows her reaction is justified because no sane person would keep a raptor in their garden but then again, hasn’t her sanity been a lost cause since the moment Gabriel walked into her life? She doesn’t want to give in, not again, because who knows what Gabriel will bring home next? Something huge and aquatic probably so they’d have to move to the ocean and build a sea pen or something. But then the raptor begins to chirp happily because Gabriel’s giving him some apple slices and Katrina feels her heart melting.

She’s pretty sure, despite what he said, that Gabriel planned this.

Didn’t know how to make me change my mind my ass, Katrina thinks. He knows perfectly well I can’t say no once I’ve seen the animal.

She really will have to put down some ground rules for the future or they’re going to be overrun by weird native and alien animals before they know it.

She sighs. “Can I give him one?”

Gabriel’s eyes light up like they always do when she allows him to keep another animal. “Of course you can!”

Chomper the raptor is just as gentle as he is with Gabriel when he takes the apple slice from her. His big amber eyes look at her expectantly and she wordlessly holds out her hand to Gabriel for the remaining apple pieces. Chomper chirrups happily as she feeds him and even starts to rub his head against her hand in obvious affection. There’s absolutely no turning back now, Katrina thinks. There never really was.

“Alright, we will keep him,” she decides, “but – and I want you to listen very carefully, Gabriel – this is it. No more animals. I have nothing against you bringing home a bird with a broken wing or something and nursing it back to health until it can return to the wild. But we can’t keep anymore pets. We’re not a sanctuary, Gabriel. You have to see this.”

Gabriel sighs and the raptor chirps inquisitively. “I know,” he admits and Katrina could have jumped for joy because it’s the first time Gabriel’s acknowledging this if it wasn’t for the sad look in his eyes.

“Look,” she says, reaching out and taking his hand, not caring that it’s sticky with apple juice. “I know you care about each and every one of these animals. I love that about you. But we can’t take in every animal in need of help. We’re just two people – and we run off to space more often than not. It’s not going to work out. But what we can do is make sure they’ll find a good home and are well cared for. How’s that sound?”

Gabriel replies by drawing her into a kiss that leaves her a little breathless. “I can live with that,” he says with a grin.

“You better will,” Katrina warns him, only half serious. “I’ll kick your ass if you bring home another dinosaur, Gabriel. Our home will not become a freaking Jurassic Park.”

Gabriel laughs, holding up his hands in defense. “I promise, no more dinosaurs. Though he is cute, isn’t he?”

As if on cue Chomper the not-raptor looks up at them with his ridiculously beautiful amber eyes and Katrina sighs. She never stood a chance.

* * *

**\+ 1. Merkin**

The last thing Katrina expects to find at an abandoned Starfleet outpost is a sad little excuse for a tribble trilling forlornly inside its cage. Another thing she doesn’t expect is the sheer lack of compassion the other members of her away team exhibit. Completely ignoring the locked up tribble they carefully walk around the ruined place, scanning every little nook and cranny.

Katrina doesn’t know if she’s been around Gabriel too long and he’s starting to rub off on her or if it’s the doctor in her but her stomach twists uncomfortable as she stares at the tribble.

“How long ago was this post abandoned again?” she asks her superior officer.

“For about a year, give or take a few months. Why?” Lieutenant Commander Cromwell says without looking up from his tricorder.

Katrina glares at his back. “Because someone left a tribble behind in a cage, sir.”

Cromwell briefly glances over his shoulder at the cage before going back to his readings. “You want to keep it, Ensign?” he asks and there’s a teasing note to his voice Katrina doesn’t particularly care about. “I’m sure your pet sehlat would love to have another chewing toy.”

Katrina grits her teeth, determined not to let the anger his words incite get the better of her. “Do I have your permission to take the tribble on board with me, Lieutenant Commander?” she asks formally.

Cromwell shrugs. “Do with it whatever you want. Just make sure it’s checked out by the biologists.”

“Thank you, sir,” Katrina says stiffly. She goes to pick up the small cage and pets the tribble through the bars. “It’ll be okay, little one. I know someone who’ll take very good care of you.”

The tribble coos happily. At least Katrina thinks it does. She actually has no idea if tribbles can sound happy. 

Two hours and a trip to the biology labs that included a thorough examination and a list of tips on how to care for tribbles later Katrina is finally back in her quarters. The biologists were kind enough to give her a bigger cage to keep tribble she named Merkin in so the poor little guy can stretch his metaphorical legs a little. He already looks a bit happier, Katrina thinks as she places a call to Gabriel on Earth. According to the biologists, tribbles can indeed feel happiness and elicit it in other species as well. Who’d have known? Maybe she could take him with her to appointments with trauma patients to help put them at ease. She’ll have to look into that later.

“Kat!” Gabriel greets her happily when the call finally goes through. “You’re lucky I’m still here. I was just about to take Maya out for a walk.” In the background, Maya growls enthusiastically. Gabriel grins. “The girl misses you. As do Cassie, Hugo and Chomper, of course.”

Katrina bites her lip to keep from smiling. “And what about you?”

“I miss you the most, of course,” Gabriel says without hesitation.

Katrina laughs as the butterflies in her stomach go crazy with happiness. “Right answer. I’ve got a surprise for you when I come home.”

Gabriel’s eyes widen in excitement. “Oh, what is it?”

“Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” Katrina teases.

“Oh, come on, Kat, don’t be like that,” Gabriel whines. Then his eyes widen for a different reason. “Are you pregnant?”

If Katrina had been drinking something she’d have choked on it. “Goodness, no,” she laughs. “Though your thoughts are kind of heading in the right direction.”

“Huh?” Gabriel says eloquently, looking utterly confused in the most adorable way. He kind of reminds her of Maya when she has no idea what her humans want from her. 

Katrina takes pity on him. “Wait a moment, I’ll show you.” She goes to fetch Merkin who starts to coo and trill the moment she picks him up. The little guy really is cute, she thinks and resigns herself to the fact that she’s no better than Gabriel, really. “Gabriel, meet Merkin.”

“Oh my … is that a tribble?” Gabriel asks, staring at her in a mixture of surprise and awe. “Where the hell did you manage to find a tribble?”

“Abandoned outpost,” Katrina says shortly. “He was left behind and no one cared so I took him with me.”

A grin lights up Gabriel’s whole face. “So what you’re saying is – and please correct me if I’m wrong –that you’re bringing home a tribble? Even though you told me, quite sternly, that Chomper was the last one we’d take in?”

Katrina rolls her eyes. “It’s all your fault, anyway,” she mutters mock-petulantly.

“Oh, is it?” Gabriel laughs.

“Yes, it is,” Katrina tells him, unable to keep the grin off her face. “Before I met you I never wanted to have a pet – and now I have four!”

Gabriel looks completely unapologetic as he points out, “Five with the tribble. What did you say his name was?”

“Merkin,” Katrina says.

“What kind of name is Merkin?” Gabriel asks, looking anything but pleased with her choice.

Katrina glares at him. “Says the guy who named a mouse Mouse.”

“It was perfectly fitting!” Gabriel protests. Katrina gives him a look and he relents. “Alright, it was kind of lame. But Mouse didn’t mind.”

Katrina nods. “No, Mouse didn’t mind. And neither will Merkin.”

Merkin, as if on cue, lets out a particularly loud and satisfied trill.

Gabriel smirks. “Touché. I still can’t believe you’re bringing home a tribble.”

“Trust me, I’m surprised myself,” Katrina says. “Just, don’t expect this to become a regular thing, Gabriel. I mean it. I’m not going to make a habit out of this and we’re only keeping Merkin because I think he might be a good therapy animal.”

Gabriel snorts. “Of course.  Therapy animal. Got it. Maybe Chomper and Maya can be trained for therapy, too.”

If he wasn’t a million light years away Katrina would throw the nearest pillow at him. “Ugh, I hate you.”

Gabriel laughs and Katrina loves the way it makes his eyes crinkle. “No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t,” she agrees softly. She loves this man with all her heart and soul despite or maybe because of his crazy need to rescue animals. She can’t imagine her future without him or any of their pets anymore and she hopes and prays every night she’ll never have to. Gabriel’s the love of her life, of that she’s quite sure after all these years, and she’s more than glad she didn’t turn her back on him when he bumped into her in the hallway on her first week at Starfleet Academy with an injured mouse in his hands and the sky in his eyes. To help him care for Mouse was the best decision she ever made in her life.

Merkin the tribble agrees with a happy little trill.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! A few notes as always:
> 
> \- I headcanon Gabriel as a xenobiologist because of Mirror!Lorca's interest in dissecting things. It worked quite well with the premise of this story.
> 
> \- I actually do not know a lot about sehlats or tribbles, so I'm sorry if I didn't depict them exactly like canon does. 
> 
> \- Chomper is named after a young Tyrannosaurus rex in the Land Before Time movies. He's neither a dinosaur nor a raptor but looks like one. Imagine baby Blue from Jurassic World with slightly less sharp teeth and you've got it though he doesn't get much bigger than baby Blue. 
> 
> \- in my mind Merkin does become a therapy animal for Katrina. The reason Lorca has him later on Discovery is because Merkin's getting old (do tribbles get old? *lol*) and Katrina decided to retire him. Gabriel, being Gabriel, loves the little guy and sometimes takes him along on his adventures.


End file.
